UGLY
by MatrixKnight
Summary: Maka has always been a little self conscious about her looks, but when she starts getting hazed with hate-filled letters and attacked at school by one of Soul's admirer's she begins to break and see herself as nothing but ugly. How will Soul handle her mental state, and can her friends convince her she has nothing to be self conscious of? Rated M for vulgar insults and violence.
1. Chapter 1: UGLY

**CHAPTER 1: "UGLY"**

Maka was hoping the letter she received from Blair was maybe a piece of paper with her mother's intricate cursive handwriting depicting her adventures, or maybe even a few pictures to show for said travels around the world. She stood still in her room, facing the wall and hands shaking at the white sheet of paper crumpling between her thumbs and forefingers.

 _They_ had mailed her again. The first few times were easy to blow off, but it appeared that the constant hazing had only grown more as her week progressed. She narrowed her eyebrows and swallowed.

' _You aren't fit for such a talented partner. Ugly whore._ ' Is what it read. Maka had taken note of their terrible grammar days ago, which was how she knew the hale of letters being sent to her on a daily basis were definitely from the same person with an angry streak towards the dirty blonde. She sighed, hanging the letter at her side and turning to face her reflection in the mirror across from herself. Maka was never particularly pretty; not like Tsubaki or Liz. She was secretly a little envious and self conscious of the others, but never minded her lack of curves and baby face so much.

Not until recently. She stared into her own green eyes with a self loathing expression. Her hair was down, and she was in a set of pink flannel pajamas to match her room. Her feet trailed to the mirror, and she slid some fingers through a lock of her blonde locks. "Maybe I should do something different with my hair today…"

She gripped the letter in her left hand tightly, catching onto her train of thought and smacking the sides of her cheeks, snapping herself out of it immediately. "No! There's no room for self consciousness. This person is just jealous - it doesn't mean they're right. Focus, Maka."

A knock made her jump at the door. "Hey, Maka? You up?"

She gasped, turning around and holding the note close to her chest. It was Soul's voice. "I'm up!"

A few seconds lay out before her. He must have been thrown a bit by her unnatural tone of voice. The knob turned, and so did Maka. She hid the letter behind her back. A head of white hair poked its head out through the crack and looked her in the eyes with scarlet irises.

"You're usually out of your room and ready to go by now." When he saw the cost was clear and that she wasn't engaging in any disrobing activities, he fully opened the door and slid his hands in his pockets, his day-to-day orange shirt under a black jacket and matching headband thrown on. It seemed he had already gotten ready, surprisingly enough. This was early for him.

"Yeah, sorry. I got a bit distracted." Maka smiled it off, rubbing her slippers together nervously. He blinked and tilted his head.

"What? Reading again?"

"Yeah, something like that." She did her best not to stutter and keep face. Soul glanced at the mirror behind her, seeing a piece of paper crumpled up in her fists. He looked back up at her.

He wanted to ask, but knowing her, it was probably best not to bring it up yet. "You better hurry and get dressed if you want to make it to school on time. I already set breakfast on the table; you can grab it on the way out."

"Right, thanks."

He gave her a one solid stare before closing the door behind him.

Maka let out a breath of relief, giving herself one more glance and then proceeding to toss the letter in the garbage with the rest of them, walking to her wardrobe.

Soul stared at the pink door, letting out a stressful sigh. He turned his head to the humming heard behind him and walked out to see Blair on the couch looking through their photo albums. She knocked her knees and giggled.

"Wasn't Maka so cute? Such a little angel!"

"You think so?" He peeked over her shoulder, viewing photos he had already seen with the woman in discussion herself. He never really looked close before, but she was a bit of a cute kid. Not that he'd say anything out loud.

"Mhm! I think it's adorable that she still wears her hair in pigtails. It's like her trademark, y'know?"

"Yeah…" He got lost in thought. Blair should have been up when Maka was up and while he was asleep. Maybe she knew something about Maka's behavior. He straightened his back.

"Hey, has Maka seemed different to you this morning?"

"Hm?" She placed a fingernail to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. "Not that I can think of. She actually seemed pretty normal. Why?"

Maybe it was just him. But having established a spiritual link with his meister, he felt very unsettled within himself, and he knew it wasn't because of anything he was feeling. The paper she was clenching behind her back was very suspicious, too. Maka wasn't one to talk about her problems much - would she even come to him if something was wrong?

He let out a huff, rubbing his hands through his wild hair. "Nothing, never mind. Maybe she _was_ just sleepy…"

Blair's head tilted; puzzled. "Well actually-"

Maka's door opened and she stepped out, collar folded, tie tied, cape buttoned and gloves on. Her hair was tied up like usual. "I'm ready to go, Soul." She headed for the door.

"Right." He went to follow her, but then noticed her omelet sitting on its plate on the table, untouched. "Hey, what about your breakfast?"

"I'll eat it when I get home. We don't have time - we're going to be late. Blair, do you mind putting it in the fridge for me?" She made sure she had her apartment keys in her pocket and then unlocked the front door.

"No problem!" Blair smiled with delight.

"We'll be off then." Soul said, leaving with his meister. The bakeneko waved an elegant hand.

"Have a safe trip!"

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay waiting until lunch to eat?" Soul looked over at Maka, the two walking up the long steps of Shibusen. Maka darted her eyes straight ahead, instantly knocking down his question.

"I'll be fine."

He knew this attitude. This usually meant she was hiding something or something was weighing heavily on her mind and her act of toughness was the way she coped with it. His frown deepened a bit and he kept walking.

"Just don't pass out during class."

"I won't."

Soul had learned to cope with this behavior of hers over time. When Maka got like this, it was like trying to break through a steel wall; not as easy as it seemed.

He placed a hand to his chest, feeling the disturbance in their wavelength thicken. It was great that their training had paid off this much, but not so great that he was only feeling a percentage of Maka's true feelings; and they were coming off strong.

A black and white figure with a head of neatly trimmed hair and three white lines with matching sisters standing at his side came into view, the three conversing about everyday topics. A small smirk brushed across Soul's lips and he called out to them.

"Hey, Kid!"

The reaper stopped and turned, returning the smile when seeing his friends approach them. They had gotten to the school at the same time for once. "Maka, Soul. Goodmorning."

"Mornin'!" Patty laughed and waved to them.

"How's it goin'?" Liz added, placing a hand on her hip. The pair pulled up to the group's side, walking with them through the academy doors.

"We're just fine. How about you guys?" Soul responded.

"Splendid. Apparently today is supposed to be a bit of a lazy one since we had just gotten over exam week. It's supposed to take the tension off of the students for a day and let them relax a bit." Said Kid.

"Nice, I'm looking forward to it." Soul folded his hands behind his head. "I know Black*Star could use it the most. That idiot probably failed again."

"True. He has a tendency to miss every mark on his tests." Kid nodded in agreement. The two continued to talk, Maka keeping quiet. Liz blinked down at her and decided to speak up about her antisocial-ness.

"Hey, Maka, you feeling okay?"

She perked up and looked at Liz. "Yeah, why?"

"I dunno, you just seem kind of… Quiet." The cowgirl shrugged.

"Yeah, join the conversation!" Patty added with hyperactive glee.

Maka swallowed, putting on her mask of a smile. "Oh, I was just thinking about homework, is all!"

Liz frowned a bit in disgust. "When it comes down to it, you really have a one-track mind, don't you? Well I guess that's why you're the honors student, huh."

"Try not to stress too much about today." Said Kid. "You should take the break as well as the rest of us."

Maka nodded awkwardly, lacing her fingers behind her back and staring down at her toes in deep thought. Soul glanced at her. The question was at the tip of his tongue, but he held it. They weren't exactly in private quarters at the moment.

A head of curly hair was glaring at the scythe meister from behind them. She crossed her arms over her chest, pinning her envious eyes  
on her.

* * *

Maka was incapable of keeping up with the chatterings of the rest of the classroom. She sat at her regular seat, hands folded over her book and staring off into space. The more she thought about the number of letters finding their way to her, the more her throat tightened up. She kept talking them down, trying to fight back the lies. Fortunately for her, Soul was caught up in conversation with Black*Star, and paid her no mind.

Her green eyes caught onto the corner of something in the wooden compartment above her knees. She slid her hand in and grabbed the paper. It was a pink letter. The adolescent blinked. It didn't appear all that threatening, but just to be safe, she opened it under the table and her eyes widened when they first landed on the sheet of paper.

A swarm of insults littered the sheet in black ink, completely disorganized and scrambled with brutal intent. 'Whore, ugly, slut, b****, plain-faced, stuck-up, snob, no sex appeal, flat chested, arrogant, go kill yourself, worthless, you should wear a paper bag over your head, stop trying to be cute, you never will be,' the list of horrible things to say went on and really hit a nerve. As Maka continued to read, she felt her eyes begin to tingle and water. Her hands shook and she swallowed, the room beginning to darken around her-

"-Maka." A hand touched her shoulder. She jumped and gasped, sliding the paper to her side where it wasn't visible. Soul stared at her with concern.

"Y-Yeah?" Her body trembled, and she did her best to halt her jumping nerves. He narrowed his eyes a bit.

"You okay? You've been super quiet. I thought maybe you were reading a book but…" His eyes trailed over to the closed, thick book sitting in front of her. Maka forced a smile to stretch on her face once again, taking in an awkward breath.

"Yeah I'm fine, just lost in thought I guess." She played it off, waving a hand. He took note of her knees knocking together.

"Hey, you're shaking like crazy. You feelin' alright?"

"I-I'm just fine."

"You sure? Today is a slow day after all, you can go to the nurse's office if you want."

"I'm positive." She nodded and did her best to stuff the piece of paper quietly and quickly into her coat pocket. Soul spotted the white piece before it disappeared and a frown hung on his lips. He released her shoulder, kicking his leg over the other and sitting back in his seat, hands in pockets. His red eyes looked ahead, Soul falling silent entirely. Maka brushed the back of her hand across her forehead and opened her book.

' _I have to get my mind off of it… I'll throw the letter out later._ '

Tsubaki was sitting behind the blonde, staring at her pocket with the crumpled paper.

* * *

The bell rung and all classes were let out to go to their lockers. Soul walked down the hall by himself, heading to the bathroom. He couldn't get his mind off of what he saw back in the classroom.

"Soul?" Tsubaki called to him from behind. He stopped his footsteps and turned to the raven-haired.

"Oh hey, you need something?"

She approached him with a smile, but came off with a little unease. "I was just wondering something. Is Maka okay? She's been very, very silent all day… And her face was a little pale during class today."

So she noticed it too. For all of Maka's efforts, she wasn't that great at hiding it. He turned his head to the floor. "So you noticed it too."

"Did something happen?"

"Nothing I can think of, but she's been acting like this all morning. I'm a little more than concerned by now."

"Well, I saw something a bit suspicious back in the classroom… It looked like she pulled a letter out from her desk, and then she slid it in her pocket as if trying to hide it. You don't think… Someone is _doing_ something to her, do you?"

It was possible. From the letter she was hiding that morning to the one in class, the suspicion became worse and only made him air out the worst possibilities. Maka looked like she was going to cry earlier when they last talked. If someone was attacking her then…

He felt his cheeks grow a bit cold and balled his hand into a fist in his pocket. "Tsubaki, do you know where she is now?"

The girl thought for a moment. "She told me she was going to her locker."

"Thanks for talking to me." He bolted past her, leaving the girl behind and turning back to the direction where the lockers were. He gritted his teeth. If someone was attacking her, what would happen if she was alone?

Panic rose in his chest and he ran as fast as he could.

* * *

Maka had just reached her locker, staring at it with anticipation for something. The letters had been spreading to her desk; it wouldn't surprise her if they spread to her locker as well. She placed a hand to her chest, reminding herself of something.

'If there is something in there, don't get worked up about it… It's just some stupid teenager's irrational envy.' With a nod, she started using her combination to unlock the metal door-

"Maka!"

She stopped, looking over at her partner. He looked like he had run all the way there, and started slowing down when he spotted her. He walked, catching his breath and looking straight into her eyes. She seemed okay. She wasn't disheveled or messed up or anything. A bit of solace settled in him.

"Are you okay?"

She blinked in surprise. What would possess Soul to run all the way from the men's room back to her locker? Maka nodded. "I am. Did something happen?"

No, but he was glad that was the case. He stood up straight and ran his fingers through his bangs. "Nah, nothing. I just had a weird feeling is all. Guess I was wrong."

"Oh. I see." She turned back to her locker, continuing to turn the knob until it clicked. Soul took in a breath. He couldn't take this uneasiness any longer. The closer he stood to her, the more he could feel the negative energy bouncing off of her to him.

"Look, we need to talk."

"What is there to talk about?"

Not this BS again. His eyes narrowed. "Don't be like that. You've been acting strangely all morning. Now that I think about it, it's slowly worked up like this all week, hasn't it?"

"What has."

"Stop playing dumb. You've been hiding something all day, and you were shaking terribly during class. You haven't been  
interacting with your friends at all; none of this is like you. Tell me what's going on."

Maka paused, eyes widening. So he had noticed. She balled up her hand and pushed back some tears. With a swallow, she responded. "Nothing is going on."

"Maka, I can _feel_ it on you. Stop lying to me."

"Seriously, Soul, I'm fine-" She started raising her voice a bit until she opened her locker door and piles of notes and letters poured out onto her feet. Her body froze, and her eyes slowly looked down on the dozens of pieces of paper and note cards decorating the floor. She quickly knelt down and started picking them up without a word. Soul slowly joined her, kneeling down and picking up a card. He gasped to himself at the word painted on it.

' _SLUT!_ ' It practically screamed at him. A cocktail of anger and confusion for Maka then mixed inside of him. Was this what she had been hiding all along? He looked up at her.

"Hey…"

"Give me that." She snatched it from his hand, obviously pushing back tears at this point. "Don't look at these. They're nothing." She picked the rest of them up in her arms.

"How long has this been going on?" His voice became low and stern, demanding answers.

"I said they're nothing!" She stood. "Leave it alone, okay!?" Her feet turned and she began running, the crumpled note slipping out of her pocket and dropping on the floor.

"Maka!" Soul screamed for her, then turned to the polished ground. "So this was it… But how long… And who would even think of…" He paused, seeing the piece of paper on the floor. He walked towards it and picked it up, opening it. His heart rose into his throat and flamed simultaneously; reading the words scattered across the lined paper.

He gripped it so hard he ripped the top, and then proceeded to rip it into pieces and toss it into the nearest garbage can. He paused, stuffing his hands in his pockets and not saying a word.

Black*Star was walking with Kid, Crona and the others, all having a lovely conversation when he spotted the white-haired boy standing in silent fury. He waved an exasperated hand.

"Yo, Soul! What's up, why are you just standing-"

Soul Swung his leg out and angrily kicked over the trash can, all but ignoring his friend and continuing down the hallway, back faced to them. The group jumped and watched him walk away. Black*Star grit his teeth.

"Hey, what did you go and do that for!" He rubbed his hand through his hair. "What's his deal?"

Crona shook in his boots, fiddling his hands nervously. Kid placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. He gave Crona a smile, and then looked forward in suspicion. The two's souls had been off that morning.

What had gotten into them?

* * *

 **A/N:  
Hey guys, MK here! I can't believe I haven't done this yet, but here's a short Soul x Maka fanfic! I felt like dealing with some real life problems for once xD. I am a fan of the manga and anime, but I was a fan of the anime first, and before anyone says anything about Crona's gender, Crona was made out to be a male in the anime, and since I watched that first, I still think of him as one and it's just hard for me to write him as anything else so I apologize if you disagree with him being an adorkable male :c.**

 **But anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day!  
Peace, babes~!**


	2. Chapter 2: UNSIGHTLY

**CHAPTER 2: "UNSIGHTLY"**

* * *

Maka stood outside of the school; leaning against a wall and watching the rain pour down in front of her. School had let out for lunch, but she wouldn't go. Not after Soul had seen what she had been trying to hide.

She folded her arms over her chest, tucking them in tightly to try and keep warm. She stared blankly into the heavy rainfall, barely able to spot the railing ahead of her.

"I can't let this get to me…" She reminded herself, doing her best to strike down the words in her head. "Stupid Soul… I can handle this myself!" Maka took her fist and punched the wall beside her, gritting her teeth behind pursed lips. She placed a hand on her forehead, lips quivering.

"Why is this affecting me so much…?"

* * *

Soul grabbed a tray in the cafeteria and let his feet guide him through the many tables and buzzing students. His eyebrows knit as he thought back to what happened a couple of hours before he had proceeded to lunch.

' _Man, getting angry like that was so not cool..._ ' The sound of the garbage can being thrown echoed in his mind. He made a displeased noise with his mouth. The feeling of heat began to boil underneath his skin again when he saw the mountain of letters flooding his meister's feet. He shook his head.

' _Get it together man! You shouldn't lose your head over that. But still, kids are mean these days, but Maka? Well, she is an honors student so I'm not surprised..._ '

"Soul!"

The ivory-haired turned his eyes towards a table where his friend's sat. Great, and now he had to face them after the show he had put on in the hallway. He may as well have gotten over it now than later. With a sigh, he approached them and sat down next to Black*Star.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey man, you okay?" Black*Star questioned. "You looked like you really lost it for a sec back there. I mean, you totally smashed that trash can. Of course _I_ would have done worse, naturally."

"What he's trying to say is, we were all worried…" Tsubaki added.

"Are you doing okay? Why isn't Maka with you? Aren't you two usually tied at the hip?" Kid pointed out. Soul rubbed the back of his hair, averting his golden eyes awkwardly. How was he supposed to explain what happened? Would it be right for him to bring it up in the first place?

"Yeah. She's been avoiding me today. I figured she would have shown up to eat with us by now, but she doesn't even show."

Kid poked his head up, looking around the cafeteria. Liz and Patty joined in, none catching Maka in their sights. "You seem to be right. She's been acting strangely as well."

"You can say that again…" Soul leaned back in his seat.

"Sorry if it seems like I'm prying but did something happen between you two this morning?" Kid asked, lacing his fingers and resting his elbows on the table.

"Nah… At first I thought I might have done something to piss her off again, but I learned that wasn't the case." That was when an idea sparked in his head. Soul lifted his chin and prepared a question for everyone present.

"Hey, sorry this is sudden, but what do you guys think of Maka?"

Some blinked, others responded. Kid did both. "Where is this coming from?"

"Oh, that's easy." Black*Star started. "She's pretty stuck up sometimes and gets on my nerves. I mean who does she think she is, talking down to me who's going to transcend the gods-"

Tsubaki hit him over the head, eyes closed in frustration. "I'm sure that's not what Soul meant!"

Black*Star winced in pain and gnashed his teeth. "Hey, I wasn't done!" He calmed down, leaning his arm on the back of his chair and facing Soul. "Maka and I don't get along well sometimes, but I've known her since we were kids. She's always been really smart and strong in her own way. N' I don't have anything against her, y'know?"

"Black*Star is right." Kid added on to his statement. "Maka is very courageous and can get through any battle. I've never seen her fully give up on something or back down."

Crona shuffled his shoulders, stuttering and trying to place his input as well. "M-Maka… Maka is very kind… Even when I tried to hurt you two, and did terrible things, she was kind to me anyway a-and… B-Because of her… I get to talk to all of you everyday…"

"Yeah, right?" Said Liz. "To be honest, I'm actually kind of jealous of her sometimes. It must be nice being an honors student and having the diligence to study all of the time. I know I could never be that disciplined."

Soul nodded, feeling a little more reassured. They were right, she was strong. Maka could handle something like this if she really tried. Though, if she couldn't, he'd prefer she didn't try to hide from him and actually confide in him as her friend. Black*Star patted his shoulder.

"Hey. You can tell Maka that whatever is wrong she doesn't need to worry." He gave him one of his famous goofy smiles. "Tell her that the great Black*Star said, 'If anyone messes with you, let me know! I'll beat the crap out of them until you can't tell they're human anymore!'"

Soul smirked, picking up his fork. "Thanks, man. I'll tell her that." He looked back down at his food, letting the others go back to their chattering. Come to think of it, Maka skipped breakfast… What would happen to her if she skipped lunch, too?

* * *

Maka dragged her feet through the hallway in deep thought. She was dizzy, but only a little. It was most likely because she hadn't eaten at all through the course of the day. Fingers laced behind her back, she dragged her mint colored eyes to a wall clock. Lunch was almost over, and the time for class was creeping upon the student body once again. She might as well have gotten a head start on getting her books.

She stood in front of the metal door, something about what happened hours before making her skin crawl. Letters upon letters of insults. A shudder darted up her spine and she squeezed her lids shut, shaking her head. Maka wouldn't let this get to her - she couldn't.

The moment her gloved hand touched the knob, the bell rang. She jumped, alarmed at the sudden ring. Lunch must have just ended.

Which meant the hallways would flood soon.

Which also meant she'd have to confront Soul, and she knew he was going to want to pester her about what he saw. But it's not like that scene was Maka's fault - she's not in control of the bullying… Which was what terrified her the most.

The girl quickly ran through her combination, and then swung the door open. She needed to get there before him. With one eye opening with hesitation, she saw that it was clean and normal. Odd, considering she was sure she hadn't gotten rid of all of the letters.

' _I did leave Soul back there with the rest of them… Could he have possibly cleaned it out for me?_ ' She thought to herself, looking to her boots. ' _That must have been it..._ ' A slight blush crept up on her cheeks. He was always taking care of her. When would she have the opportunity to take care of him?

That was when Maka touched one of the books in her locker. An odd sight was cast upon her green eyes. There were black blotches on the sides of the paper. Slowly, she pulled out the large textbook and flipped it open.

Her throat tightened up.

Each individual page had its own set of separate insults and snide remarks, scribbled carelessly in messy red and black marker. Some pages were torn out, others were slashed up, and some even had black ink completely doused over it.

Maka gripped the edges of the book, the ink still wet and staining her white gloves. She could feel a tear start to build, but she quickly sucked it back in, chest tightening from the stress to the point it almost physically hurt.

That's when students began to pour into the halls. Panic rose in her chest. She threw the textbook back in her locker and slammed it shut, eyes darting from either side of the hall. The bully could be anyone, or a group. It could be someone walking by her; any _one_ of these individuals. Her vision began to blur the more the anxiety settled in. Faces became fuzzy the more she dwelled on it. She was suddenly becoming a target.

And the pressure was too much.

' _Someplace… I need someplace to calm down!_ ' She turned to push through the oncoming crowd, world suddenly tilting and throwing her over. She fell into leather and cotton fabric, arms wrapped around her.

"Maka? Maka!"

Her vision was like the night sky, completely blackened with tiny twinkling stars appearing and vanishing before her. The blackness started to fade into blotches which decreased in size per second. The sounds of happily buzzing students waved into her ears and she opened her lids, craning her neck to see a white haired male, his red eyes staring down with concern for her.

"Oi…"

When the situation sunk in, she made an attempt at pushing him away. "I'm sorry-!" Still going through some after effects of her physical condition, she spun, almost falling again when he slung an arm around her waist, pulling her back to him.

Maka clenched the side of her head, the vertigo becoming even more serious than before. "Sorry…"

"We need to talk."

The air caught in her throat and she whipped her head around to face him. His eyebrows were knit, and she knew he meant business.

"Let go of me." She turned back around; plastering that same annoyed facial expression she always gave him when trying to hide something on her face. "We have a class to get to-WAH!"

Soul suddenly lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder, holding her thin frame in place with one arm and walking down the hall with ease. She beat on his back, not having enough strength to actually hurt him or prevent him from continuing.

"What are you doing!?" She ground her teeth, continuing to punch his back. "Put me down, right now Soul! You'll pay for this!" She cringed, vertigo hitting her like a brick. She clutched her head again.

"Right, and how exactly are you going to do that again?"

She puffed up her cheeks in anger. "Very funny… Where are you even taking me, Soul?" She propped her face up on her hand, losing the energy to continue physically fighting him. "We have class soon… And everyone is looking!"

"The nurse's office."

"What!? You can't, we're going to miss class-!"

" _Maka!_ "

She froze, turning to look at the back of his head. He didn't say anything after that. Soul was… Pretty serious about this. She knew things were going on that were worrying him, but the last thing she wanted to appear as was 'weak', especially over something so petty as low-grade bullying.

They continued like that, people in the halls staring at them as they traveled in silence.

* * *

"Did you bring a lunch?" Mira asked Maka. She sat on a hospital bed, hands between her legs, head hanging low.

"... No."

"No wonder you're dizzy. Your blood sugar has probably plummeted. Wait here, I'll go get you something to bring it back up. Lay down until I get back." She left the room, leaving the pair to sit by themselves. Soul sat on a stool in front of Maka, looking back over at her.

"You heard what she said, lay down."

"I'm fine." Maka protested.

Soul was beginning to get fed up with everything. He wanted so badly to smack some sense into her, but held his tongue and turned to the side. How could he break through to her? Did she really not trust him after everything they had been through? He thought of ways to get her to talk. She seemed to open up to Tsubaki a lot. Maybe if he acted gentler like Tsubaki…?

His eyes flickered back towards her. Her head was still hanging, and she looked a bit pale. He rolled the seat closer to Maka. He ran his fingers through her bangs and pushed them back out of her face, keeping his hand there.

"Hey… What happened?"

Maka gasped, looking up at him. What was with the sudden skin ship? Her eyebrows curled in worry as she looked into his eyes. She could see a glint of unease in his pupils, though it shadowed over him in a very minor amount.

"You know you can talk to me… We've got each other's backs, right Maka?"

Maka then came to a realization. Despite her efforts to hide the situation, he still caught on, and worried about her. That was the last thing she wanted. She failed to protect him again… But he was right. They had each other's backs. Those simple words gave her a spark of hope. She didn't want him to worry about her. She wanted to handle this situation herself.

Maka took his hand into her own hands, pulling it off of her head and holding it tightly. "It's okay, Soul… I'm fine - I mean it." Her eyes closed, letting the warmth of his hand sink in through the gloves. "Please don't worry about me."

Soul tilted his head, lips pursed. He needed to stay calm. "Maka…"

"I'm sorry you had to see those things earlier; that you had to see that side of me. I didn't mean to push you away."

"What? You mean those letters? Those weren't your fault."

"I know." She looked up at him with a small smile. This time, it was genuine - not fake. Though she almost didn't believe her own words for some reason… "It was just some jealous person. I was just shocked. I'm fine now."

Soul wasn't buying it. He knew he probably shouldn't keep pushing, but that harassment wasn't just jealousy. It couldn't have been. It was full out attacking Maka. Did she really think calling someone a slut and a whore was just all fun and games?

"Listen-" He leaned in.

"Please." She cut him off, gripping his hand tightly. "Can we just… Stay like this for a moment?"

His mouth shut. Soul felt her hands shaking. There was definitely more to this, but pushing it probably wasn't helping either. He needed to keep a cool head and somehow find a solution to all of this. He was still extremely pissed off that someone was doing this to his meister, but he'd let himself cool off for now. He held her hand back, just sitting in the silence.

Minutes passed by, and the only thing that could be heard was the clock ticking. Soul closed his eyes as well. He could feel their wavelengths matching, almost as if they were naturally connecting. With that, he could still feel the tension within her, but made a decision that he would save the questioning for when she felt better. After all, gradually, the tension started to subside.

After sharing a few more moments of peace, he opened his eyes. "You need to lay down."

Maka opened her eyes, seeing that she was still holding his hand. She drew her hands back to her sides with haste and looked away, blush creeping across her face. "Sorry."

"Stop apologizing." He stood up from his seat, pulling the snow white covers down from the bed. He wrapped his arms around her waist, earning a small squeal in surprise from her and lifted her off of the mattress bridal style. Before she could protest, he lay her gently onto the bed, then started pulling the covers over her.

"You should get some rest while we wait for her. Man, she's taking a long time to get back…"

Maka pulled the covers over her nose, cheeks flushed. "... I still have my shoes on."

"They change the sheets periodically, nobody cares." He sat in his seat with a huff. Silence hung in the air again. Maka started to close her eyes from the fatigue.

"Soul…?"

"Nh?" He looked over at her.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

He stopped, then smiled to himself. He placed his hands in his pockets, letting the sun shine on them through the window. "Any time."

"... Even though you made me miss class."

Soul chuckled to himself.

Maka perked up when she heard the laugh. She glanced over, sneaking a peek at his face. He actually looked at peace with himself, and so did his soul - unlike before. Maka smiled, closing her eyes and snuggling into the bed once again. Being with Soul made her comfortable for some reason. If that was the case, then she didn't need to worry, because they even lived together, so they were by each other's side all of the time.

Maybe all of this wasn't so bad after all…

She fell into a deep sleep, leaving Soul there to watch her. She actually looked peaceful for once. That was when he noticed something wet on his hands. He flipped his palm over. Some black had hardened on his skin.

"What is this…?" He looked in closer.

"Ink?"

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys. Guess what.**

 **LIFE.**

 ***official excuse slip has been turned in***

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Correction. You better have because I stayed up until 4AM writing this for you guys so APPRECIATE IT, INGRATES!**

 **Jk I love you don't hate me here have some free hugs. /squeezes everyone.**

 **Hope to see you all again in the next chapters or whatever fanfics I decide to get up and work on :'D**

 **Adios, babes~!**


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